


Ten Years On

by QuillHeart



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Children, Domestic Fluff, Feel-good, First Day of School, Galo is a Great Dad, Gen, M/M, One Shot, Reflecting on the Arc of One's Life, Slice of Life, happy tears, uplifting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:06:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23939608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuillHeart/pseuds/QuillHeart
Summary: Lio wakes up one quiet morning and takes stock of his life, and all the beautiful people in it.Based on the picture by @Coffee__Cait.
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 6
Kudos: 88





	Ten Years On

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by Coffee__Cait's image of an older Lio and Galo snuggling by a fence, holding coffee, with a big blue sky. Here: https://twitter.com/coffee__cait/status/1215112568374689800

For someone who had spent years of his life sleeping on bare earth and balled up jackets in the desert, there was nothing quite like the feeling of waking up in a bed made with clean sheets and seeing the dappled sunlight of tree leaves laying over his arms like lace.

Indeed, today Lio Fotia once again woke to the crisp feel of fresh cotton mixed with luxurious weight of comforters and quilts molded all around him. The soft, familiar scent of their laundry detergent drifted up around him—as did that of his husband.

It was one of those quiet, unassuming mornings where Lio woke to sunshine and a mind perfectly clear. He stared at the ceiling and its fan for a while, just feeling himself breathe, and _be_. No longer a living candle; no longer host to a flame always wanting to burn. And yet…for all that he was simply human now, there was all the more to marvel at.

Life, after all, was a beautiful mystery. The fact that on this lonely planet, over millions of years, life had begun, evolved, interacted, and multiplied, time and time again, until one little piece of it eventually made _him_ , with his millions of cells and billions of symbiotic lifeforms, all pulled together with a spark of electricity to run his heart and trap his soul…

It was truly amazing, and all the more astounding when he turned to the body in bed beside him.

Blue hair, pooling around the hills and valleys of the pillow. An arm, muscled and scarred and painted with beautiful artwork. Short lashes, curved and catching the light. The tiniest hint of crow’s feet at the edge of his eyes, and similar shadows of laugh lines at the corner of his mouth.

Lio turned as gently as possible under the mountain of fluff and gazed at the man as he slept. His breathing was peaceful, and the white light played over his skin like it too wanted to hold him safe and close.

A smile crept over Lio’s face of its own accord. One of gratitude, and grace, and victory. Of a love song whose first verse was well known to him, but whose second was just being written.

He was still wearing that smile when the light intensified through the blinds just enough for the love of his life, Galo Thymos, to wake up too.

His eyes fluttered open, slow and unfocused. After a second, he took sleepy stock of his surroundings, and found Lio looking at him.

When those beautiful summer sky-blue eyes looked on his with a question to them, Lio’s smiled turned fond and welcoming. Without a word, he reached out and laid his hand on Galo’s handsome thirty-three-year-old cheek.

The tattooed rescuer smiled sleepily and set his hand over his husband’s. It was warm, calloused and big and heavy, and after one slow stroke of his thumb and a soft hum, Galo’s eyes closed again. He fell back asleep within moments, breathing peacefully.

Lio didn’t mind; in fact, he felt a bit bad for likely having woken him. This moment was reward enough.

This warm place, connected by that spark of life…it felt safe. It felt sacred.

It felt like he hadn’t lost his place all those years ago, but found it.

Lio Fotia, ten years after the Second Great World Blaze, closed his eyes, wrapped in blankets and the heat of his partner, and inhaled the calming, familiar scents, the ring on his finger glowing molten in the light. He had almost fallen back asleep himself, lost in the loving embrace of all that was home, when—

_Crash bang Slam! Thunk-tunk-tunk rattlllllle……………tink!_

—a cacophony came from the kitchen.

Lio’s eyes snapped open. Galo, otherwise unmoved, was already glancing in the direction of the door, gaze frozen with a telltale pause of expectation.

Silence descended, and nothing more.

In a moment, Galo sighed and turned, Lio’s hand slipping away down his neck and onto his meaty shoulder. “ _Kiiiids_ …?” Galo called, loud enough to be heard through the door.

 _“It’s okay!”_ came one squeaky voice.

 _“Totally Okay!”_ came the slightly older one.

 _“We got this!”_ came the first again.

 _“Totally got this!!”_ the second agreed.

Galo very tellingly paused, considering the degree and tenor of alarm. He stayed tense enough to spring to the rescue at a moment’s notice—until the calculations finished going through his mental gears and determined there was no imminent danger. He groaned, flopping back down into the pillows at a roll. He ground his face into the soft fluff with a long growl, legs kicking.

Lio, half sat up and resting on his forearm now, watched this display cathartically and then rolled over half on top of him, arm slung over his succulently bare shoulders.

“I love you, Galo Thymos,” he cooed, pulling the unruly strands aside and peppering his cheek and ear with kisses in an attempt to get him to resurface. “You _and_ your rambunctious genes.”

Galo’s eyes reappeared somewhat balefully, but he soon growled a virile call from the back of his throat and flipped over, taking Lio with him. With a yelp, Lio was pulled onto Galo’s hips, straddling them. With a laugh, Lio straightened up and pushed his hair out of his eyes, baring his throat and pearly white teeth, too. By the time he looked down again, the sheets pooling around his splayed legs, Galo was smirking at him--which for Galo, was always less devious and more delighted.

“God, you’re beautiful,” he said by way of greeting. “You wanna make a couple more?”

Galo’s hand petted heavily down Lio’s cheek, neck, and arm, before his other tapped its fingers on Lio’s thigh. Holding him tight, Galo momentarily rolled his hips up into him. A giggle burbled up out of Lio and he batted at Galo’s chest playfully before falling forward and framing him with his slender arms. In the shadow that claimed the space between them as Lio’s hair fell over his shoulder, Lio purred, a dark, dangerous thing. Galo grinned, but Lio stayed serious; eyes locked on Galo’s, he owned him with his gaze, then descended to claim the heat under his jaw line.

“I don’t think that’s how it works, but nice try,” Lio growled. He took Galo’s hands and pressed them into the pillows near his head, fingers twined together.

“Can’t blame a guy for trying…” Galo husked, licking his lips and tilting his head to give Lio better access, even if it meant letting go of the view of his pretty face and wiry body for a time.

“Heh, no,” Lio agreed, nipping at Galo’s neck. When he got to Galo’s ear, he whispered, “But I’m not in the business of rewarding my captives, unless they show me _very good_ behavior…”

“Hah--!” Galo slid his hands out of Lio’s his palms stroking up the man’s slender forearms, until he suddenly grabbed the little man by the waist and flipped him over. With a startled _oomf_ , the sheets fluffed up around Lio loudly, while Galo crawled on top of him. “But you forget, it was _me_ who captured _you,_ first, Lio Fotia.”

Galo stroked his silky hair, which Lio drank in with a shiver. When he’d had his fill of that taste, Galo rose onto his knees, flexing his incredibly toned arms, abs, and pecks. The full blue mane, no longer shaved on the sides and only around shoulderblade length now, added to the picture—as did the rugged morning stubble. He’d only gotten better with age, and Lio was entirely certain Galo was gong to be a silver fox who caused entire neighborhoods to spontaneously combust in about twenty years.

From his prison of fluff, Lio licked his lips. “Mm, but _you_ forget,” he hummed, sliding his knee up to the middle of Galo’s hot, thick thigh, until he pressed against Galo’s crotch, “I _let_ you catch me.”

“Stih…Still counts,” Galo stuttered, shivering. He touched at Lio’s knee for safety, for balance, but Lio didn’t let up, and soon Galo gave up and bent forward, resting on all fours.

As he groaned luxuriously over Lio’s head, Lio smirked and cupped his face in both hands.

Just to feel him like this was a wonder. Flesh and blood and hope and love…a bond that fate had tied that could not be unravelled. But also…their precious time together was marching on.

“You know what else you forgot?” Lio asked, kissing Galo’s nose sweetly.

“What?” Galo asked, grinning and chasing his lips.

After the first kiss, Lio pulled back and whispered onto his skin, “It’s the first day of school.”

“Ah!” Galo gasped and sat up so hard he actually shoved Lio into near asphyxiation. Lio pushed him off with a growl, though given that Galo was already off the bed by the time Lio had even managed to sit up, it wasn’t long before he was smiling softly to himself, tenderly finger-combing his hair in his pillow fort to the sounds of Galo, through the open door, enthusiastically encouraging their eldest on his big day, the terms “champ” and “dad” being bandied about between the sounds of bear hugs and giggles.

“Hey champ! How you feeling about your big day?!”

“ _Excellent!!_ ”

“Fantastic! You ready to go like we talked about?”

“Yeah! I’ve had breakfast and I put all my stuff out last night and I’m even dressed good, see?!”

“Great job! Your Papa would be so proud! And what are you gonna do at school once you get there?”

“Learn lots, help the teacher, and stop the bullies!”

“That’s my boy!” There came the sound of a crisp high-five.

“Don’t forget to have fun!” Lio called. “…But not too much! Un-unless it’s for righteous political dissidence!”

There was a pause, three sets of snickers, and then: “You heard him!” from the adult in the room.

“Love you, Papa!” called their son.

“Love you too!” Lio hollered. “And you too, Themis! We’re gonna make so many cookies today, just like I promised!”

“Papaaa!” she chirped. “Cookieeeees!!”

“RAAAAR!” This playful howl from Galo heralded the familiar sound of him grabbing up his children in his massive arms and swinging them around, given the amount of happy shrieks.

“I’m so proud of you two! You’re gonna be great at school!”

““Schoooooool!!””

And so it went. By the end, Galo was going through his most recent team chant with them, which ended in a rallying cry of excited little voices.

“Jeez,” Lio scoffed, blowing a strand out of his eyes. “Show me up, why don’t you?”

But the smile never left his face, and turned only more fond as time went on.

Lio’s gaze drifted over to the pictures on the dresser, full of big smiles and happy memories: A wedding. A birthday or two. A promotion. A job offer. A few more medals, this time with two little kids grinning with him as he held them in either arm. Each child had a slightly different shade of unruly, pale turquoise hair, one with blue eyes and one with violet, and each sported big, breathless smiles in every picture, safe and proud and thriving.

A kiss, between Lio and Galo, on a spring day, with a shiny new set of rings.

There were even ones of their Burning Rescue team over the years. (Galo was now a Vice Captain, and Lio was a support specialist, though he worked half time from home these days, until the kids could both be in school.) There were pictures of Lio with Meis and Gueira too, when the two had opened their own business, moved into their first home. And new friends along the way, too.

This was a life.

A house, a home, a family, friends, a job that mattered to him as much as to others.

A man he could support and protect, and who did so endlessly back.

Children, whom he could shepherd and teach and love.

A fire in his chest that would extinguish someday, when he was old and had made his mark on so many happy hearts, whether in his family and his community, and maybe even his world.

People, who would remember him for the love he’d given and the good he’d done, not just the damage he’d wrought and the anger he’d held.

In the cool white light of that September morning, Lio had to admit that what stood before him, what he and Galo Thymos had built, was a life.

A _good_ life.

And it was something he’d never expected to have.

So if it took Lio Fotia a little longer than usual that day to get out of bed, it definitely wasn’t because he’d been crying.

Even if Galo had had to hold him, and their children had had to glom onto him, before the tears would finally dry.

**Author's Note:**

> If you would like to read my Promare erotica, check out my pseud Saucy_Beans ;)


End file.
